1,494 research outputs found
A randomised on-line survey exploring how health condition labels affect behavioural intentions
ObjectivesWe examined the effect of 'labels' versus 'descriptions' across four asymptomatic health conditions: pre-diabetes, pre-hypertension, mild hyperlipidaemia, and chronic kidney disease stage 3A, on participants' intentions to pursue further tests. There were four secondary objectives: 1) assessing confidence and satisfaction in their intention to test further; 2) revealing psychological drivers affecting intentions; 3) exploring whether intentions, confidence and satisfaction differ by label vs. description and health condition; and 4) producing a perceptual map of illnesses by label condition.MethodsPractitioner validated health-related scenarios were used. Two variants of each condition were developed. Participants were recruited through Qualtrics from Australia, Ireland and Canada and randomly assigned two 'labelled' or two 'descriptive' scenarios.ResultsThere was no significant difference in intentions to test between label and description conditions (95% CI -0.76 to 0.33 points, p = 0.4). Confidence and satisfaction were both positively associated with intentions: regression coefficient (β) for confidence β = 0.58 points (95% CI 0.49 to 0.68, p ConclusionsUnlike studies investigating symptomatic illnesses, the disease label effect on behavioural intentions was not supported suggesting that reducing demand for medical services for borderline cases cannot be achieved by labelling. The average intention to test score was higher in this sample than previous symptomatic health-related studies and there was a positive relationship between increased intentions and confidence/satisfaction in one's decision. Exploratory insights suggested perceptions of the four labelled asymptomatic illnesses all shifted toward greater levels of dread and concern compared to their respective description condition.Trial registrationACTRN12618000392268
In‐situ characterization of deposits in ceramic hollow fiber membranes by compressed sensing RARE‐MRI
Ultrafiltration with ceramic hollow fiber membranes was investigated by compressed sensing rapid acquisition relaxation enhancement (CS-RARE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to characterize filtration mechanisms. Sodium alginate was used as a model substance for extracellular polymeric substances. Dependent on the concentration of divalent ions like Ca21 in an aqueous alginate solution, the characteristics of the filtration change from concentration polarization to a gel layer. The fouling inside the membrane lumen could be measured by MRI with a CS-RARE pulse sequence. Contrast agents have been used to get an appropriate contrast between deposit and feed. The lumen was analyzed quantitatively by exploring the membrane’s radial symmetry, and the resulting intensity could be modeled. Thus, different fouling mechanisms could be distinguished. CS-RARE-MRI was proven to be an appropriate in situ tool to quantitatively characterize the deposit formation during in-out filtration processes. The results were underlined by flux interruption experiments and length dependent studies, which make it possible to differentiate between gel layer or cake filtration and concentration polarization filtration processes
Low Space External Memory Construction of the Succinct Permuted Longest Common Prefix Array
The longest common prefix (LCP) array is a versatile auxiliary data structure
in indexed string matching. It can be used to speed up searching using the
suffix array (SA) and provides an implicit representation of the topology of an
underlying suffix tree. The LCP array of a string of length can be
represented as an array of length words, or, in the presence of the SA, as
a bit vector of bits plus asymptotically negligible support data
structures. External memory construction algorithms for the LCP array have been
proposed, but those proposed so far have a space requirement of words
(i.e. bits) in external memory. This space requirement is in some
practical cases prohibitively expensive. We present an external memory
algorithm for constructing the bit version of the LCP array which uses
bits of additional space in external memory when given a
(compressed) BWT with alphabet size and a sampled inverse suffix array
at sampling rate . This is often a significant space gain in
practice where is usually much smaller than or even constant. We
also consider the case of computing succinct LCP arrays for circular strings
Being in front is good—but where is in front? Preferences for spatial referencing affect evaluation
Speakers of English frequently associate location in space with valence, as in moving up and down the “social ladder.” If such an association also holds for the sagittal axis, an object “in front of” another object would be evaluated more positively than the one “behind.” Yet how people conceptualize relative locations depends on which frame of reference (FoR) they adopt—and hence on cross‐linguistically diverging preferences. What is conceptualized as “in front” in one variant of the relative FoR (e.g., translation) is “behind” under another variant (reflection), and vice versa. Do such diverging conceptualizations of an object's location also lead to diverging evaluations? In two studies employing an implicit association test, we demonstrate, first, that speakers of German, Chinese, and Japanese indeed evaluate the object “in front of” another object more positively than the one “behind.” Second, and crucially, the reversal of which object is conceptualized as “in front” involves a corresponding reversal of valence, suggesting an impact of linguistically imparted FoR preferences on evaluative processes.publishedVersio
Present and Future Experiments with Stored Exotic Nuclei at Relativistic Energies
Recent progress is presented from experiments on masses and lifetimes of bare
and few-electron exotic nuclei at GSI.Comment: Proceedings of International Conference on "Frontiers in Nuclear
Structure, Astrophysics and Reactions", Kos, Greece, September 12-17, 200
Direct observation of long-lived isomers in Bi
Long-lived isomers in 212Bi have been studied following 238U projectile
fragmentation at 670 MeV per nucleon. The fragmentation products were injected
as highly charged ions into the GSI storage ring, giving access to masses and
half-lives. While the excitation energy of the first isomer of 212Bi was
confirmed, the second isomer was observed at 1478(30) keV, in contrast to the
previously accepted value of >1910 keV. It was also found to have an extended
Lorentz-corrected in-ring halflife >30 min, compared to 7.0(3) min for the
neutral atom. Both the energy and half-life differences can be understood as
being due a substantial, though previously unrecognised, internal decay branch
for neutral atoms. Earlier shell-model calculations are now found to give good
agreement with the isomer excitation energy. Furthermore, these and new
calculations predict the existence of states at slightly higher energy that
could facilitate isomer de-excitation studies.Comment: published in PRL 110, 12250
Recommended from our members
Optimization of the IPP-bypass mevalonate pathway and fed-batch fermentation for the production of isoprenol in Escherichia coli.
Isoprenol (3-methyl-3-buten-1-ol) is a drop-in biofuel and a precursor for commodity chemicals. Biological production of isoprenol via the mevalonate pathway has been developed and optimized extensively in Escherichia coli, but high ATP requirements and isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) toxicity have made it difficult to achieve high titer, yield, and large-scale production. To overcome these limitations, an IPP-bypass pathway was previously developed using the promiscuous activity of diphosphomevalonate decarboxylase, and enabled the production of isoprenol at a comparable yield and titer to the original pathway. In this study, we optimized this pathway, substantially improving isoprenol production. A titer of 3.7 g/L (0.14 g isoprenol per g glucose) was achieved in batch conditions using minimal medium by pathway optimization, and a further optimization of the fed-batch fermentation process enabled an isoprenol titer of 10.8 g/L (yield of 0.105 g/g and maximum productivity of 0.157 g L-1 h-1), which is the highest reported titer for this compound. The substantial increase in isoprenol titer via the IPP-bypass pathway in this study will facilitate progress toward commercialization
Genetic Diagnostics in Routine Osteological Assessment of Adult Low Bone Mass Disorders
Context Many different inherited and acquired conditions can result in premature bone fragility / low bone mass disorders (LBMD). Objective We aimed at elucidating the impact of genetic testing on differential diagnosis of adult LBMD and at defining clinical criteria for predicting monogenic forms. Methods Four clinical centers broadly recruited a cohort of 394 unrelated adult women before menopause and men younger than 55 years with a bone mineral density (BMD) Z-score 2), and a high normal BMI. In contrast, mutation frequencies did not correlate with age, prevalent vertebral fractures, BMD, or biochemical parameters. In individuals without monogenic disease-causing rare variants, common variants predisposing for low BMD, e.g. in LRP5, were overrepresented. Conclusion The overlapping spectra of monogenic adult LBMD can be easily disentangled by genetic testing and the proposed clinical criteria can help to maximize the diagnostic yield
From Einstein's Theorem to Bell's Theorem: A History of Quantum Nonlocality
In this Einstein Year of Physics it seems appropriate to look at an important
aspect of Einstein's work that is often down-played: his contribution to the
debate on the interpretation of quantum mechanics. Contrary to popular opinion,
Bohr had no defence against Einstein's 1935 attack (the EPR paper) on the
claimed completeness of orthodox quantum mechanics. I suggest that Einstein's
argument, as stated most clearly in 1946, could justly be called Einstein's
reality-locality-completeness theorem, since it proves that one of these three
must be false. Einstein's instinct was that completeness of orthodox quantum
mechanics was the falsehood, but he failed in his quest to find a more complete
theory that respected reality and locality. Einstein's theorem, and possibly
Einstein's failure, inspired John Bell in 1964 to prove his reality-locality
theorem. This strengthened Einstein's theorem (but showed the futility of his
quest) by demonstrating that either reality or locality is a falsehood. This
revealed the full nonlocality of the quantum world for the first time.Comment: 18 pages. To be published in Contemporary Physics. (Minor changes;
references and author info added
- …